Mr. D. has a bit of a cold on our beach/mardi gras/valentine’s day jaunt, so we’ve been spending our evenings in. Friday night he took a long nap, after which we went out and got a take-out pizza (I’m sure he’ll be posting their neon “Pizza by the Slice” sign on his blog). Last night, after a fun afternoon at the Gloucester Mardi Gras, with sufficient quantities of gumbo for us to forego dinner, we settled in for an evening of TV and cards in the motel room.
Being Valentine’s Day, the cinematic fare leaned heavily towards romantic comedies, although there was something on SciFi that featured bloody RV windows, smashed cars, men with big guns, and dragons. I guess that was the alternative programming for the 14-year-old boys and bachelors with similar tastes. We (OK, I) settled on a 2003 film called “Love, Actually.” Hey, I’ll watch anything with Emma Thompson. If she were on the Hollywood Squares I’d probably watch it (but only if she were the center square).
What’s not to like? Emma Thompson, Alan Rickman, Liam Neeson, Keira Knightley, Colin Firth, Hugh Grant and Rowan Atkinson…the cast was like a who’s who of contemporary English cinema (I guess Kenneth Branagh was busy). I figure the concept and planning meetings went one of two ways:
1. Omigod we forgot to make a heartwarming Christmas movie! Quick! Call all the a-list actors in the UK, get me 27 writers and give each writer a different scene or character. I want a script ASAP.
2. This script is awful. The only way we’ll get anyone to watch this turkey is if it has a stunning cast. Get me Emma Thompson, Alan Rickman, Liam Neeson, Keira Knightley, Colin Firth, Kenneth Branagh and Rowan Atkinson on the phone. What’s that? Ken’s on location? Damn. Get me Hugh Grant instead. Not that anyone will ever believe him as Prime Minister.
This movie was not so much stunningly awful (see previous review of Revolutionary Road) as wildly inconsistent. It never rose above standard chick flick/Christmas heartwarmer fare, but occasionally reached to depths far below. The script for Liam Neeson’s Adorable Love-Struck Son was particulary a howler…you’d never hear those words coming out of a full-grown adult much less a little boy. And Neeson’s character would be arrested for allowing the kid to jaunt past airport security to say goodbye to his little girlfriend.
On the other hand, at least it kept the dial from drifting over to a sporting event. Thank the stars for small favors.
7 responses so far ↓
1 Phil // Feb 15, 2009 at 2:29 pm
I recall that Toastie loves this flick.
I’ve seen a couple of five-minute segments — including the part on Toastie’s blog. Enjoyed the airport scene.
And now, especially with your review, I suspect I’ve seen enough.
Loved Hugh Grant in Four Weddings and it’s echo, Notting Hill. Need see pretty much nothing else, though About a Boy was fun.
2 Roger Green // Feb 15, 2009 at 7:13 pm
The airport scene is great - God Only Knows by the Beach Boys. Actually Grant as PM is no more unbelievable than Tony Blair as PM.
3 Toastie // Feb 17, 2009 at 11:18 am
Yes, it’s more of a Toastie movie than a Crone movie.
Phil, I will lend you my DVD. Watch the whole thing. You’ll like it. If you enjoyed Four Weddings and Notting Hill, you’ll enjoy Love, Actually. At the very least, it’s ten-times better than any Kate Hudson/Matthew McConaghey crapola or some Hallmark Channel flick with Genie Francis and Ted McGinley.
Claire, you had to have at least enjoyed the Bill Nighy character.
And non-Brit Laura Linney is awesome, too.
4 barry // Feb 17, 2009 at 1:17 pm
the only character less believable than Hugh Grant as the freakin’ Prime Minister that i’ve seen in a movie in the past 25 years has been Jar Jar Binks.
Grant’s PM would not have been out of place as the assistant manager in a fast food restaurant, but as one of the 5 most powerful people in the world?
and such a nice auditorium to put the school Christmas play on in, don’t you think?
The Bill Nighy character was OK. I liked the Troggs song subplot. Which one is Laura Linney?
5 Toastie // Feb 17, 2009 at 3:13 pm
Laura Linney is the one with the crush on Carl, and she has the brother in the psych hospital. She does that great five-second happy dance when she realizes she’s gonna get it on with Carl.
6 claire // Feb 19, 2009 at 8:49 pm
We couldn’t figure out who the guy was in the psych hospital. Brother? Husband?
There were moments that I enjoyed—the scene in Portuguese with subtitles was a hoot, although I could have done without the fat jokes about the younger sister.
But overall I wished they’d edited this down to 1/2 the characters and gone into more depth on a few of them. It just seemed like a waste of an incredible cast.
7 Toastie // Feb 20, 2009 at 4:54 pm
The guy in the psych ward is the brother.
I’ve also watched the deleted scenes a bunch of times. The director actually had around a 4-hour movie. Characters like Liam Neeson’s and his stepson and Emma Thompson and Alan Rickman and his potential mistress get a lot more character development.
I could have done without the porn body doubles and the guy who goes to Wisconsin to get laid.
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